Joanna was no longer shivering; she was openly shaking in his arms. Gavin lifted her from her place, drawing her gently into his lap, and he wrapped his arms protectively around her. Outside, a long, low rumble of thunder rolled across the loch.
“I was too late,” she croaked over the noise. “By the time I reached the passages into the south wing, the smoke was thick and the heat unbearable. I was choking, but I climbed upward. There were flames leaping everywhere. And there were choked screams above the roar of the fire. I killed them! I waited too long in the crypt. I...”
She broke down. Gavin gathered her tightly against his chest. Her tears ran in streams down her cheeks and onto his chest. The warrior’s throat knotted tightly and he clenched his jaws. How well he knew the sorrow that
